Joseph A. Lopez, an eight-year resident of Kingman, died Thursday, Oct. 24, at Nathan Adelson Hospice in Las Vegas, from complications following a massive stroke.

Joe, as he preferred to be called, retired as a contractor this year at age 70 after spending more than 35 years in the construction industry.

Born Dec. 3, 1942, to Jose Lopez and Rosa Colon in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, his family moved to Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1949. Joe moved to San Diego in 1978, and it was there that his career in building got its humble start.

Working as a dishwasher, he took money from each paycheck to buy a tool in hopes that he could eventually become a skilled craftsman.

Starting as a handyman, Joe would go on to specialize in remodeling and renovations, building a company that worked throughout the country for some of the nation's largest mortgage companies and banks.

He was even better-known for his ever-present good cheer and his unquestioned commitment to family and friends. In 2005, Joe and his wife, Julie, relocated to Kingman from Los Angeles so that her mother, the late Martha Waters, could spend her final years in her hometown.